Chapter 83 - 76: The Current Jianghu is Too Boring

The Plum Garden was a modest garden within the Imperial Palace, located very close to Phoenix Perch Palace.

In early spring, it was typically filled with splendid blossoms, a rather charming vernal scene.

At Li Chang’an’s behest, Ye Xuan came to the garden. She waited a long while before Empress Li finally made her belated appearance, followed by a group of mysterious Martial Artists in black robes, their auras unfathomably deep.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan’s expression turned a little grim. She asked, "Empress Li, what is the meaning of this?"

Empress Li sized her up and down without answering, instead giving a meaningful look to the men behind her.

Several of the mysterious Martial Artists carried a tightly sealed sedan chair over to Ye Xuan, lifted the curtain, and said, "Pure Consort, if you please!"

Ye Xuan glanced at the sedan chair, then back at Empress Li, and said furiously, "Who are you people? How dare you plot against me in broad daylight within the Harem of the Dayan Imperial Family! Do you have a death wish?"

Seeing her flustered and exasperated expression, Empress Li finally revealed a faint smile. "Calm yourself," she said. "I merely wish to invite the Pure Consort to stay at Phoenix Perch Palace for a few days. Why must you be so nervous?!"

Ever since Li Chang’an had shone so brilliantly at the last meeting of the Clan Relatives, Empress Li had discovered to her dismay that her own status, as well as the Eldest Prince’s, had plummeted among them.

Empress Li naturally understood the root of the problem.

It was simply that Li Chang’an’s appearance had presented the Clan Relatives with a better option than the Eldest Prince, causing them to switch their allegiance.

Even setting aside Li Chang’an’s talent, compared to the Eldest Prince, who was backed by the ’maternal clan’ of the Li Family, the unblemished Li Chang’an was clearly easier to control and more aligned with the interests of the Clan Relatives.

It was after that meeting that Li Chang’an was added to the kill list of both Empress Li and the Li Family. They were determined to eliminate this destabilizing factor as soon as possible, no matter the cost.

To this end, the Li Family had even dispatched a Grandmaster to lie in wait near the Capital City, ready for any contingency.

But frustratingly, Li Chang’an was like a turtle hiding in its shell, refusing to leave the Library Pavilion. Empress Li was nearly driven mad with anxiety but couldn’t come up with a good solution.

In the end, it was the recent cosmic phenomenon at the Library Pavilion that gave her an opening!

That’s right. Her purpose in luring Ye Xuan out was to take her captive. That way, as long as Li Chang’an still acknowledged her as his mother, he could no longer hide in the Library Pavilion like a coward!

Her idea was excellent, her plan flawless. And now, just as she’d expected, it had succeeded.

A smile bloomed on Empress Li’s face. To be honest, she had lost a great deal of sleep over Li Chang’an ever since he appeared.

She had been the Empress for many years, and her path was paved with a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Yet she had never encountered someone as troublesome as Li Chang’an.

He was just a child of a few years, yet he was shrewder and more patient than some of those old monsters.

Just as Empress Li believed she could finally get her wish and completely control the pace of the struggle for the throne, a figure strolled into the Plum Garden from not far away, as if taking a leisurely walk in a courtyard.

The figure wasn’t tall, but he exuded an otherworldly aura, like that of an Exiled Immortal. He walked unhurriedly toward the group, his gaze falling upon Empress Li, and said slowly, "So this is what the Empress meant by ’admiring chrysanthemums’? What a fine pastime indeed!"

The moment she saw the figure, Empress Li’s pupils contracted violently. A deep sense of dread, like encountering a venomous scorpion in the desert, instinctively arose in her heart.

’Li Chang’an?’

’Shouldn’t he be in the Library Pavilion right now?’

’Why is he here!?’

Seeing the little bastard she dreamed of eliminating appear so brazenly before her, Empress Li felt no joy. Instead, her sharp instincts picked up the scent of something wrong.

After all, she was a woman who had seen her share of great events. Forcing herself to remain calm, she said, "Isn’t this the Twelfth Prince? Why aren’t you reading in the Library Pavilion today? What puts you in the mood to visit the Plum Garden?"

As she spoke, she shot a look at her subordinates, and someone immediately moved to shut the gate.

Li Chang’an naturally noticed this detail but simply said, "If I hadn’t come today, given the current situation, I’m afraid the Empress would have imprisoned my mother, wouldn’t she?"

Hearing this, Empress Li’s expression turned ugly.

’Since Li Chang’an knew what she was planning and still dared to show up, he either has a screw loose or possesses absolute confidence in his backing.’

So the question was, did Li Chang’an have a screw loose?

Empress Li didn’t think so.

Therefore, she decided to drop the pretense. Tearing off all face, she gritted her teeth and spat, "You little bastard, I let you live a few extra years and you’ve actually grown arrogant? Don’t even talk about not being a true Grandmaster—even if you were, so what? You will still die here today!"

The moment her voice fell, dozens of Innate Realm masters poured out from the shadows. At the same time, an assassin at the Half-Step Grandmaster Realm, who had been lying in Concealment, suddenly bared his fangs at Li Chang’an.

Last time, Li Chang’an had displayed terrifying strength in front of the Clan Relatives, even fighting a Puppet at the Grandmaster Realm.

Although this incident wasn’t widely publicized, Empress Li clearly knew about it.

However, when she relayed the news to the Li Family, no one believed that Li Chang’an truly possessed such power. After discussing it, they unanimously concluded that it was most likely a little trick orchestrated by the Dayan Imperial Family.

The goal was to show the outside world that the descendants of the Dayan Imperial Family were not, as rumored, suffering from a lack of successors.

In the Li Family’s eyes, however, the performance was clearly over the top. A three-year-old fighting a Grandmaster? Why not just say he could fly to the heavens?

Acting so poorly not only failed to prove anything for Great Derivation, but it also suggested that the lack of successors within the Dayan Imperial Family had reached a critical stage.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have resorted to such an outrageous farce.

In truth, the Li Family wasn’t the only one who knew about this. There were some rumors in the Jianghu, but no one outside knew the details as clearly as they did.

Regardless, while Li Chang’an’s emergence seemed somewhat comical, it still made the Li Family feel threatened.

After all, the foundation of the cooperation between the Li Family and the Dayan Imperial Family was built on the Eldest Prince ascending the throne.

Now the Dayan Imperial Family had suddenly propped up a ’Child of Destiny’ and was beginning to act aloof toward the Eldest Prince. What was that supposed to mean?

The Li Family would certainly not accept it.

For this very reason, to ensure Li Chang’an’s elimination this time, the Li Family had sent a considerable number of people under the pretext of visiting relatives, including an old expert at the Half-Step Grandmaster Realm!

Seeing so many figures suddenly lunging at him in the Plum Garden, Li Chang’an’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

Before the surrounding attackers could reach him, he shot out a hand and seized the Half-Step Grandmaster who was hidden in the shadows, attempting to slit his throat with a single strike.

His five fair, jade-like fingers squeezed lightly, and the sounds of tearing muscles and snapping meridians came from the Half-Step Grandmaster’s body.

After completely crippling him, he tossed him to the ground.

Li Chang’an retracted his hand and looked at the aghast Empress Li. He spoke unhurriedly, "After so many years of preparation, this is all the manpower you could muster? Your Li Family really isn’t up to much!"

Seeing him so easily cripple their strongest combatant, the Li Family Death Warriors present fell instantly silent.

Li Chang’an, however, paid them no mind. He dusted off his hands and said directly, "Old Man, stop watching the show from the sidelines. Make your position clear. Should I handle today’s matter myself, or will you?"

As his voice rang out, the Old Man leaped down from the roof of a nearby palace. With a single palm strike, he obliterated the crippled Half-Step Grandmaster into a pile of pulp. He then said coolly, "Your Li Family is truly getting more and more audacious and reckless... I’m not dead yet, and Great Derivation hasn’t fallen. How dare you pull something like this?"

Seeing her greatest support crippled and then killed in a matter of moments, Empress Li’s face was filled with terror. Still, she gritted her teeth and said, "Old Ancestor, why would you support such a... such a..."

She had wanted to blurt out "little bastard."

But the scene of Li Chang’an grabbing the Half-Step Grandmaster as easily as snatching a chicken flashed through her mind again.

This forced her to swallow the insult, and she changed her phrasing, demanding, "Why would you support such a mongrel? Even if my Li Family has overstepped, wasn’t it Great Derivation that broke the rules first? His Majesty personally promised to make Fei’Er the Crown Prince..."

The Old Man thought about it and realized she wasn’t just being unreasonable. He gave a bitter smile and spread his hands. "Why don’t you go ask that damn fellow on the throne about it? See if he’ll still admit to it now. Besides, this matter isn’t about what I want to do to you..."

At this, he paused, looked at Li Chang’an, and sighed. "This kid’s words carry more weight in the Imperial Palace than mine do now. Of all the people you could have offended, you had to pick him?"

In the past, Empress Li had brought the Eldest Prince to the Library Pavilion to visit the Old Man. Although the Old Man never gave any clear indication of his stance, their relationship was still somewhat familiar.

Thus, now, before her death, the Old Man was letting her die with the full picture.

Hearing the Old Man’s explanation, Empress Li felt as if she had been plunged into an icy abyss. Her gaze shifted to Li Chang’an, her eyes filled with disbelief.

This boy’s words carried more weight than the Old Ancestor guarding the Library Pavilion, and he had just single-handedly captured and killed the family Elder at the Half-Step Grandmaster Realm, a man she had regarded as unshakeable as Mount Tai...

What did this mean?

It meant the Li Family had likely been wrong from the very beginning!

This boy wasn’t a front put up by the Imperial Family, but a genuine, three-year-old Grandmaster!

He was already a Grandmaster at the age of three...

’Five years have passed since then. What Realm could this boy possibly be at now?’

At this thought, Empress Li couldn’t stop trembling.

She came from a Martial Arts Family and was a Top-Notch Master herself, so she had a clearer understanding of the various Realms of the Martial Dao than ordinary people.

But it was precisely because of this clear understanding that she found it even harder to believe what was happening. She could only stare blankly and mutter, "How is this possible... How is this possible?"

She was unwilling to believe in her own defeat.

But the bloody truth was laid bare before her, forcing her to accept it.

Li Chang’an paid no attention to her muttering.

’To the victor go the spoils, and the loser is condemned. This has been the rule of all struggles since ancient times. When you decide to act, you must first consider the price you might have to pay.’

’That way, you won’t panic when defeat is at hand and death is imminent.’

He turned and gestured to the equally stunned Lou Qixiang. "Take my mother back to her chambers to rest. I’ll return after I’ve handled a few things here."

Hearing this, Lou Qixiang snapped out of his daze and quickly helped the still-dazed Ye Xuan to leave.

After the arriving guards had cleared away all the unrelated people, Li Chang’an finally looked at the Old Man and said, "I need a team skilled in gathering intelligence!"

The Old Man looked at him, feeling a little uneasy. "What are you planning to do?"

Li Chang’an had no intention of hiding it. He said directly, "I want them to gather detailed information on all the top Sects in the world for me!"

The Old Man: "..."

Hearing this answer, the Old Man’s heart sank. He complained bitterly, "Kid, isn’t offending one Li Family enough for you? Do you really have to offend every Sect in the world before you’re satisfied?"

Li Chang’an was not swayed in the slightest by the Old Man’s well-intentioned warning. He said seriously, "I’m not deliberately trying to offend people. I just want to forge a new Order for this world’s Martial Dao!"

"The Jianghu, as it is now, is simply too boring!"

...